He didn’t pull out another gun, but flicked his arm out straight, the sleeve of his suit lighting up with glowing blue lines. I moved my arm to block, just as I saw electricity snake over its surface, flowing out of him.
Flux. Some of the strongest electromagnetic fields I’d ever felt coursed through him, and I wasn’t able to stop him as he slammed his forearm into my ribs. White-hot pain sizzled over my skin, and I could smell my flesh burning as he pressed into me, pinning me between his power and the stack. A line of symbols glowed over his left eye and cheek—a Flux-activated tattoo.
That feral look in his eye was completely unhinged, and he opened his mouth like a snake intending to swallow me whole.
But underneath the pain that had me writhing in his hands, I could feel my own Flux growing.
He poured more voltage into me, and my whole body seized up—but he didn’t know he was feeding me too.
From my toes to the top of my head, it spread, the pain only increasing how much my body could hold. Could he feel it, how I was reveling in it? Every muscle in my body clenched, begging for release. And underneath all that pain, something much sweeter lingered.
“Is that all you’ve got?” I forced a smile to my face, even as my teeth nearly cracked, my jaw clenching.
Amusement flickered in his eyes.
“You want more?”
He leaned in so his body pressed into mine, his power coursing through both of us. He shifted his leg between my thighs so we were even closer and pushed more voltage through me.
I screamed, every single part of me begging for it to stop, for it to end—and yet I had never felt more alive.
Yes, I wanted more. I wanted it all.
My Flux responded to him, and I felt something I had never felt before. Resonance—like our frequencies had aligned.
I didn’t resist, and the pain vanished, leaving me with only euphoria.
He brushed his lips against my ear as he said, “You going to let me see that pretty face?”
His hand slid up my throat to my jaw, tugging at my mask.
I unlocked my muscles long enough to slam my hands into the server behind me. I sent a bolt through it and all the surrounding machines. Despite overloaded circuits, I continued searching until I located it. A battery bank at the end of the stack.
I sent it all there—all my power, and all of his.
The explosion broke us apart.
My ears rang and my body ached, but I pulled myself to my feet. I ran, my legs spasming from the leftover current, and I clutched my raw side, but I ran.
I didn’t look back, but I heard him shout, “Until next time, doll!”
I sprinted out of the server room door and back to the ladder. My fingers slipped as I tried to climb, coming away dark with blood that I hoped was Taos’. I scrambled up and out, slamming the cover closed behind me.
I didn’t stop.
I ran, and my lungs burned, my ribs screamed in agony, my Flux sang—and for the first time in recent memory, I felt alive.
I felt alive, and I wanted it to stay that way.
CHAPTER 3
EON
6 MONTHS LATER
Of course, it was raining. The seeded clouds over Neo Stellaris never let up, no matter how much flooding it caused. The polluted water ran off the pavement and down through a grate near my feet. Funny, how I could identify with water. Six months sober, out of the club, and I remained tainted and circling the drain too.
I threw up my hood and pushed my way through the crowd. People weren’t friendly in Neo Stellaris, but in the rain, that was even more obvious. Hoods up and manners washed away. Only the occasional glow of a Vysor was visible through the hounding weather, an ad popping up as people walked by a business.
